Upsurge in rapes in DRC
2007-10-23 16:09
Goma - Recent conflict in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo's Nord-Kivu province has been accompanied by an upsurge in rape and often barbaric mutilations of women and girls, medical relief workers report.
The province's mission chief for Doctors without Borders, Jane Coyne,said: "For the whole of Nord-Kivu we normally treat 250 rape cases each month.
"But we saw a 100% increase in the first fortnight of September. About three-quarters of the rape victims say they were assaulted by armed men," she said.
The upsurge of sexual violence against women came amid frequent clashes between the regular army and dissident troops loyal to renegade ex-general Laurent Nkunda in Nord-Kivu.
Fighters from all sides blamed
In the latest fighting, skirmishes broke out at Rugari, about 30km north of the provincial capital of Goma on Tuesday, a UN spokesperson said.
About 750 000 people have fled their villages, leaving families exposed and vulnerable in a province wracked by successive civil wars and other conflicts since the mid-90s.
The US-based Human Rights Watch issued a 100-page report on Tuesday on the "New Crisis in Nord-Kivu" which blamed fighters from all sides for many kinds of anti-civilian violence, not least rapes.
Coyne and Congolese doctor Christophe Kimona, a specialist in trauma and post-rape injuries, agreed that the incidence of cases and the movement of rival armed forces in the DRC go hand in hand.
More than 370 000 people have been displaced since the end of last year, according to the UN mission. At five displacement camps around Mugunga relief agencies have reported at least 38 rape cases since mid-September.
The Human Rights Watch report documented rapes, massacres, summary executions, looting and recruitment of child soldiers in Nord-Kivu since 2006, "committed by all parties to conflict" including Mai-Mai militias and rebels from neighbouring Rwanda.
- SAPA